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Anyone remember Popeye–the sailor man?  Remember how he would eat spinach and have super strength to defend Olive Oyl or put his enemies at bay by eating an uncooked can of spinach?  No longer is spinach the super power food. It’s kale.

I am having a kale moment, enjoying all the healthy benefits. Who knew kale could be so beneficial for the body?  Maybe you did but I am just discovering the many benefits of kale, the newest super food being enjoyed by many health conscious people. The dictionary describes super food, a term sometimes used to describe food with significant amounts of antioxidants where they bestow health benefits as a result.  Move over blueberries and green tea (both considered great antioxidants), kale is an amazing vegetable being recognized for its exceptional nutrient richness, health benefits, and delicious flavor.

Eating a variety of natural, unprocessed vegetables especially dark, leafy greens like kale can do wonders for your health, but choosing super-nutritious kale on a regular basis may provide significant health benefits, including cancer protection, lowered cholesterol, and is unusually high in fiber (foods high in fiber help to create bulk  one needs to keep you full for a good amount of time). Kale’s high levels of fiber have been found to lower LDL or “bad cholesterol.”

Health Benefits of  Kale:
Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, and rich in calcium.  In addition to beta-carotene, kale possess other important carotenoids:  lutein and zeaxanthin.  These carotenoids help keep UV rays from damaging the eyes and causing cataracts.  According to recent research results, kale is an incredible source of well-absorbed calcium, which is one of the primary factors that may help to prevent osteoporosis. Side note, as women age, we hear a great deal about calcium these days because bones deficient in calcium are weak and susceptible to injury.  Hip fractures in older people, especially women, often osteoporosis as the underlying cause, are a common cause of disability and death.  You can always take s calcium supplement but why not eat what readily available and natural?

Additional benefits of kale, the manganese in kale helps your body’s own antioxidant defense system, superoxide dismutase, protecting you from damaging free radicals.  It’s folate and B6 team up to keep homo-cysteine levels down, which may help to prevent heart disease, dementia, and osteoporosis bone fractures.  The anti-cancer compound found in kale helps ones liver more efficiently remove toxins.

But wait…there’s more benefits to kale:
More iron than beef-Kale gives you more iron per calorie than beef.  It also delivers 2g of protein per cup, making kale a viable meat alternative.
Non-Dairy Source of calcium-Kale supplies more calcium per calorie than milk and is easier for the body to digest.
Boosts Your Eyesight Better than Carrots-One cup of kale provides 206% of vitamin A per recommended daily allowance.
Anti-Aging Skincare-Vitamin C delivers a plethora of health benefits including fewer wrinkles and firmer, softer skin.
One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6, 40% magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% calcium, 1,020% of vitamin K.

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Now that you know some of the surprising benefits of kale, here’s an easy smoothie recipe to help get you started:

1 cup almond milk
2 -3 stalks of fresh kale
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen pineapple or mango
1 banana
Directions:  Puree ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Serves 2

SInce kale is king for now, I hope to learn more recipes to sauteed, juice, and enjoy kale in salads,  Have your tried kale?  If yes, any easy recipes you can share?